Carlota Bonnet
About me...
My name is Carlota Bonnet. I'm 26 years old. I am an Aerospace Engineering graduate student and Graduate Research Assistant at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where I earned my Bachelor of Science with Highest Honors in 2019. I previously earned my Associate of Arts with Highest Honors at Santa Fe College. I have two sisters, and I have lived in Venezuela, France, and the United States. I was born in France, but lived most of my life in Venezuela, where I attended a French school. Since my mother is Venezuelan and my father French, I grew up talking both French and Spanish constantly.
Having family in different continents created a need to travel. Each year, we went to France to visit my father's family, and to enjoy the summer. Moreover, as a member of the Venezuelan horse riding team, I travelled to South American countries to compete. I went to Ecuador, Chile, Colombia, and Puerto Rico, visiting and enjoying each country as much as I could. These international competitions were more than, well, competitions. They were the opportunity to meet new people, to learn new ways of living. I fell in love with traveling, and the knowledge that comes with it. I have been to Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, and Spain. Since my parents live in the Ivory Coast, I have had the opportunity to visit the country on a few occasions. In every country, I was eager to see how the culture differed from mine, and how to use the experience for my personal growth. During the summer 2016, I participated to a Study Abroad program to China with the Santa Fe College, for which I was awarded a study abroad grant. This trip was an incredible opportunity.
Travelling as much as I did couldn't have been possible without one of my other passions: horse riding. I started horse riding in 2006, and continued until I moved away from Venezuela in 2013. During these years, I practiced everyday for one to two hours after school. Horse riding taught me to be responsible, dedicated, and competitive, as well as to manage my time wisely. As horse riding was such an important part of my life, I decided to expand a little more about it in this page.
My family has always been important to me. They have supported me, encouraged me, and I know I can always count on them. It is my father that inspired me to become what I am today, and that opened the doors for me to study to become a Mechanical and Aerospace Engineer.
My father is a mechanical and petroleum engineer. Since my youngest age, he explained to me the love and passion he had for mathematics. At first, I did maths to "be like him." But soon, I began to see the beauty of number and formulas, the power of a simple equation, and the joy of solving a complicated problem. I realized how mathematics could be applied to everything, and how essential they are for everything we do. They are everywhere, from our bank account to the algorithms in our phones, from an airplane's landing to a baseball swing. My decision to become an Engineer was vastly influenced by my father's teachings and stories, and I thank him everyday for the opportunity he gave me to discover the wonders of maths. Moreover, he introduced me to the Engineering world. Thanks to him, I have had the opportunity to visit two offshore oil fields in the Ivory Coast, as well as an onshore gas production facility.
